Grad students unload equipment at the Grindstone Section of the Dunn Burrow Dig.

The Grindstone Site

The Grindstone Site is the current on land investigation. Four Dunn Burrows have been determined to have existed in the shadow of the castle.  Three were destroyed by fire and 1 by an earthquake in 1703.

The earthquake survivors probably built the modern day Dunn Burrow which lies about six miles away from the Loch.

One fire was followed by salt being planted on the site.  This occurred around 1600 and is obviously another attempt on the part of the Puritan purge to erase the MacThoy's from history.

The four tiers are:

Dunn Burrow I--

existing during the Roman Period, 20 feet deep.  Battered fortifications were found of 6 feet thick.  Approximately 5,000 artifacts have been recovered.

This first village is a hallmark in MacThoy existence.  It marks the first known time members of the tribe abandoned their gypsy ways for a more sedentary life.

E MacThoy labored on this site but his research is spotty at best.  Only a few journal notes from Lona Campbell remain.  There are no excavation drawings.  It is suspected that most of these items were impounded by local Historical Societies during the Avebury incident.

The Diggers relax after dinner before retiring to begin the work in the morning.

The work continues. . .

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Ivan Lair of the Northwest Hellcats Dunn Burrow Dig

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Created: May 9, 2001
Last modified: September 12, 2006